Theft is a large problem in the retail industry. To combat theft of merchandise, the retail industry has utilized many products, such as alarming fixtures, Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) tag systems, and locking mechanisms used to secure items.
Traditional alarming systems will activate an alarm to warn employees when a product has been removed from a display. As such, when a legitimate customer would like to purchase merchandise protected by these traditional alarm systems, it requires a store clerk to unlock the merchandise from the display protected by the alarming system. This type of retail theft deterrent is similar to a simple locking fixture, which merely secures the merchandise to the display. Both the alarming system and the locking fixture require a customer to first ask a store clerk to remove the merchandise from the display prior to purchasing the merchandise. Research in the retail industry has shown that merchandise that requires a store clerk to retrieve causes a gradual loss in sales.
An EAS tag system is used in conjunction with a gate, usually at the exit of the retail store. These systems typically require that each item of retail merchandise be fixed with a tag that will cause an alarm to activate if the merchandise is moved beyond the gate. Therefore, a store clerk will need to remove the tag subsequent to the customers purchasing the merchandise. The requirement for each retail merchandise item to be tagged means that many tags will need to be used, which will cut into the overhead cost of operating a retail store. Further, the store clerk will need to take the additional time to remove the tag that could be used to service other customers.
A pusher system is a popular device used to “face” merchandise, i.e. bias the merchandise to the leading edge of a retail shelf. A general description of a typical pusher system may be found at U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2007/0267364 A1, the teachings and disclosure of which are hereinafter incorporated by reference.
A typical pusher system contains merchandise in an organized line or row. As a front most item is removed, a pusher of the pusher system biases the entire line or row forward such that the next item in the line or row, now the front most item is biased forward until it engages a stop of the pusher system that prevents further movement of the row.
Utilizing an alarming fixture, an EAS tag system, or a locking system on a pusher system retail display is inconvenient for the same reasons discussed above. Therefore, what is needed is a pusher system with an alarming system that does not require a store clerk to remove the merchandise from the display or remove a tag affixed to the merchandise prior to a customer purchasing said merchandise.
The invention provides such an alarming pusher system. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.